This Christmas, we’re serving up holiday platters for the many moods and sonic flavors of the season. We get down to some very merry Chicano rockabilly from Los Straitjackets; gather around the fire with French fiddlers in snowy Maine; imbibe “Sugar Rum Cherry” concocted by Duke Ellington; dream of a white Christmas a laBooker T. & the MGs, and hear the tale of Miles Davis‘ “Blue X-mas” from jazz composer Bob Dorough. Plus, cool Yuletide exotica from Esquivel, joyous free jazz from Rahsaan Roland Kirk and ring shouting for a New Year from the Georgia Sea Island Singers.

MUSICAL MEMORIES WITH JOE ELY & ROSCOE ROBINSON

October 31st, 2018

We reach for “mystic chords of memory” with singer-songwriter Joe Ely and gospel/soul man Roscoe Robinson to hear about the ground they’ve covered as veteran touring musicians. Joe starts us off in Lubbock, Texas, where he grew up, and tells of railroading across America, running off with the circus, musical explorations with the Flatlanders and his role in Austin’s Cosmic Cowboy scene. Roscoe, now in his 91st orbit around the sun, remembers his childhood in Dermott, Arkansas, the family’s migration north, traveling the gospel circuit through the Jim Crow South, taking the stage at the Apollo Theater and his life-long spiritual journey. We spin travel tunes from artists’ influences like Buddy Holly, Flaco Jimenez and the Staple Singers; plus, some pre-election reflection songs from Johnny Cash, Lauryn Hill and Keb Mo.